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Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., holds up a copy of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease as Country singer Glen Campbell, who has Alzheimer's disease, second left, stands with his wife Kim, left, and Harry Johns, CEO of the Alzheimer's Association, right, at during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 15, 2012.
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Democratic U.S. Rep. Edward Markey’s record during his 37 years in Congress has been the basis of his U.S. Senate campaign. On the campaign trail, Republican candidate Gabriel Gomez has attacked Markey as ineffective, based on the number of bills he sponsored that have become law.

“Over the last 20 years, you haven’t authored a single piece of legislation signed into law,” Gomez charged at the candidates’ first debate. “You haven’t been doing your job, Congressman.”

Markey shot back that Gomez “couldn’t be more wrong” and went on to list the bills he had authored that became law.

Gomez responded that Markey was providing a “slick, lawyerly” or “career politician” explanation.

So what does this attack mean, and how effective has Markey been?

In January, the Massachusetts Republican Party sent out a press release stating, “Recently, the long yet unremarkable congressional career of Congressman Ed Markey passed a dubious milestone: the 20th anniversary since the last time Markey sponsored legislation that went on to become law.” Gomez picked up that attack.

Asked for their research, the Gomez campaign listed each session of Congress since 1993, noting that every bill Markey sponsored died, with the exception of a resolution honoring former Celtics coach Arnold "Red" Auerbach.

However, Markey’s campaign points out that the Congressman has written legislation on issues ranging from national security to telecommunications that have become law – even if Markey’s name was not on the final bill. Political observers say Gomez’s critique overlooks how the legislative process works.

“It is a fairly narrow perspective about what makes an effective legislator,” said Melinda Pierce, legislative director for the Sierra Club, which has worked closely with Markey and endorsed him.

The Markey campaign pointed to bills Markey sponsored that became law as part of larger bills, rather than standalone legislation. For example, Markey wrote a bill in 1998 making it illegal for online companies to collect personal information about children. Provisions of the bill were incorporated into a yearly appropriations bill that became law. A 2004 bill Markey wrote ensuring that servicemen who are hospitalized with combat wounds do not lose their combat zone pay became law as part of a defense authorization bill. Provisions Markey wrote requiring screening of cargo on planes and ships were incorporated into a bill implementing recommendations of a commission examining the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

In other cases, Markey introduced the House version of a bill and a companion Senate version became law. Markey was the prime sponsor of a 2010 bill that improved access to telecommunications technology for individuals with disabilities. Markey wrote a 2009 bill excluding income earned from participating in clinical trials for rare diseases from eligibility calculations for federal benefits. One law Markey often talks about while campaigning is a bill he authored creating a national program to focus on Alzheimer’s research. Senate versions of all these bills became law.

Jeffrey Berry, professor of American politics at Tufts University, said measuring effectiveness is not as simple as counting sponsorships, since members of Congress must work together to get bills passed.

“Your challenge is to explain a very complicated process where influence and credit are shared. It’s tough to disentangle,” Berry said.

Berry said Markey particularly had influence on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Telecommunications, where he was the chairman or ranking member from 1987 to 2008. “Because he’s a long in the tooth member of the House and the majority party, he’s had a chance to play a major role,” Berry said. “When he was head of the telecommunications subcommittee, I think he was quite influential in terms of policies enacted into law, whether they were considered a Markey bill or not.”

Cardozo Law School professor Susan Crawford, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama for science, technology, and innovation, in her book “Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age,” described Markey as the “principal author of many of the laws now governing the nation’s telephone, broadcasting, cable television, wireless and broadband communications systems.”

Crawford credits Markey and Sen. John Danforth, a Missouri Republican, with reaching a deal in 1992 to end skyrocketing cable rates by allowing phone and satellite companies to compete with cable companies. Danforth introduced the Senate bill; Markey the House bill. The bill was passed, and Congress overrode a veto by President H.W. Bush.

Crawford details Markey’s involvement shaping the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which deregulated telecommunications markets while opening them up to competition. With Republicans in control of Congress, the bill was introduced by a Republican and included provisions Markey disliked. But, Crawford wrote, “Now in the minority, Markey and his team battled on, getting amendments added and changes made…”

Mark Cooper, director of research for the Consumer Federation of America, which opposed the 1996 legislation but has worked with Markey on energy and telecommunications issues, said members of Congress generally get few bills passed, particularly given Congress’s recent gridlock. But Cooper pointed to a policy Markey pushed on net neutrality that was adopted by the Federal Communications Commission. He said Markey pushed for drawdowns of the strategic petroleum reserve, which happened.

“Those observations about dropping bills and not getting them passed in this Congress is not an indication of being ineffective,” Cooper said. “It’s an indication of being willing to say what you’re for and being willing to influence the outcome in other ways than passing bills.”

Pierce similarly pointed to Markey’s advocacy for boosting fuel efficiency standards for cars, which got incorporated into a 2007 energy bill. She said he worked successfully to defend the arctic from oil drilling and fought to maintain tax incentives for the solar and wind industries. While these might not be standalone bills sponsored by Markey, Pierce said, “It is his advocacy that gets it across the finish line because of his seniority and his passion.”